Warning: Minor spoilers from “Black Widow” and major spoilers from previous Marvel films.

A Black Widow movie from Marvel Studios was long overdue. 

Throughout the years of watching movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), I always wondered why Black Widow didn’t have a solo movie. She is one of the main members of the Avengers and played a major role in setting up the universe. When her movie was announced in 2019, I was very excited to see what other stories Marvel could tell about the character after her apparent death in “Avengers: Endgame” (2019). After plenty of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her solo movie finally came out in theaters and Disney+ on July 9, and it was definitely worth the wait. 

“Black Widow” focuses on the titular character and her struggles to accept her past. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is on the run due to the events from “Captain America: Civil War” (2016). Due to this dilemma, Natasha believes that hiding from the public eye will solve her problems. However, her plans are ruined when her sister Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) asks for her help to stop a major threat. Natasha and Yelena then decide to seek help from their adopted parents, Alexei (David Harbour) and Melina (Rachel Weisz).

The cast does a phenomenal job portraying their characters. In particular, I really enjoyed Pugh’s portrayal of Yelena. Her honest and badass personality was amazing and made the movie even more entertaining. Pugh steals the show in every scene she’s in. 

Harbour and Weisz are also amazing at showing how the two characters are struggling to live in the present. O-T Fagbenle, who plays Natasha’s friend Mason, does a fantastic job as the character and helps Natasha with her missions throughout the film. Johansson continues to shine as the titular character and shows her acting range in plenty of heartfelt scenes with other characters. 

The character in the film that I believe did not have the best portrayal was the villain, Taskmaster. Throughout the film, Taskmaster was seen as a silent assassin only focused on finding Natasha and her family. While Taskmaster was awesome in fight scenes, the character was very one-dimensional and only appeared in the movie during action sequences. I wanted the character to appear in more scenes and also, have some dialogue to give more context to the character’s motives. However, the reveal of the character’s identity was very surprising and left me wondering about the character’s future appearances in the MCU.  

The film also has plenty of heartfelt moments that will have fans tearing up while watching, including me.

“Black Widow” is a great film from Marvel Studios that welcomes fans, such as myself, back to movie theaters. Watching a Marvel movie in theaters again was such a great experience and reminded me of the opening night of Endgame. The majority of the people in the theater were Marvel fans constantly talking about their theories about the movie and the future of the MCU. It felt great to hear these conversations again in the theater rather than sitting behind a computer screen for two hours. Since this is Johansson’s last appearance as the character in the MCU, I will say that the film gave a lot of closure to her character and sets up her legacy in the franchise.

The action scenes are very outstanding and brutal, rivaling fight scenes from “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014). The film also has plenty of heartfelt moments that will have fans tearing up while watching, including me. As a reminder, since this is a Marvel movie, don’t forget to stay until the very end of the movie for a post-credits scene. Trust me, this post-credits scene made me even more excited for the future of the MCU.